A 2nd White Hut, 30 Boltwood and The Lumber Yard are among the new eateries coming to Amherst.
The former gallery space on Main Street is being transformed into the new Lumber Yard restaurant, targeted for an October opening. AMHERST – “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well,” the British writer Virginia Woolf once said.
Amherst restaurant operators are hoping to help people think. The restaurant scene here is evolving this summer, with new restaurants and restaurant expansions, changes that some say will alter the downtown dining landscape.
Robert J. Reeves, general manager of The Lord Jeffery Inn, said the inn’s new restaurant will be part of that scene.
Called 30 Boltwood, the restaurant and inn, currently being renovated, should open in the late fall. He said he sees 30 Boltwood fitting in with “what is really an elevated dining scene for Amherst.” He said 30 Boltwood will be “farm to fork cuisine” focusing on what’s grown locally, and will also include patio dining.
“What you're seeing is getting away from the overall abundance of pub type dining,” he said. The restaurant will be more than a dining room for guests but much more part of the restaurant scene for people coming to town to eat, he said.
He talked about the recent opening of Lit – a nightclub restaurant that opened in what was at one time the Atlantis restaurant and later the Green Market Farm Store on Boltwood Walk – as another example of the evolution.
“Lit is terrific,” said Tony A. Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a sophisticated bistro with Mediterranean infusion.”
He too thinks the restaurant profile is changing, and is hoping that the town will become more of a destination for dining than it now is. Judie’s Restaurant is one such long-standing draw.
The Lumber Yard could become another. The restaurant will open this fall at 383 Main St., the site of the former Wunderarts gallery, a space owned by Maroulis and his wife Nora.
Rolf and Cindy Nelson, who own the Sconset Cafe in Nantucket, plan to serve “an inviting array of contemporary American food, from entrees to lighter nibbles including salads, local cheeses, and charcuterie,” according to its website. Charcuterie is devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham and sausage.
The restaurant will include a wine bar. Renovations are ongoing, and a new patio has been laid for outdoor dining.
The French bistro Chez Albert is moving from 27 South Pleasant St. to a slightly larger space about 2/10 of a mile away on North Pleasant Street, next to Henion Bakery, and will expand its menu offering. The new space will allow owner Paul Hathaway to have a bar and a patio and more dining room seating. He’ll offer a new patio and bar menu as well.
“We’re excited,” he said. “We’ll be able to offer our same unique experience in a little bigger location.” The current Chez Albert is closing July 28, and he hopes to reopen in mid-August.
But that’s not say to pub or casual has gone the way of the eight-track. “I think we still have the inexpensive college eats comfort food type of thing,” Maroulis said.
The West Springfield-based White Hut will augment that category of food. The eatery has served burgers smothered in fried onions since 1939 and will be opening in space that once belonged to Newbury Comics.
John Korpita, principal owner of the Amherst Brewing Company, stands in front of plans for the brewery's new home on University Drive in Amherst. The brewery is expected to open here in August.The Main Street side of that music store is now the site of the LimeRed Tea Room. White Hut will take up the rear and overlook Boltwood Walk, kiddy-corner to the new Johnny’s Tavern. White Hut plans to stay open until 2 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, said Senior Planner Jeffrey R. Bagg. It will not serve alcohol.
With La Piazza Ristorante closing, Andrew Yee, whose family owns the Huke Lau in Chicopee and Johnny’s Bar and Grill in South Hadley, plans to open Johnny’s Tavern in that space. According to his application before the Design Review Board, the restaurant will be a gastropub catering to an older crowd.
Bagg expects the special permits for both Johnny’s and the White Hut to be filed with the Town Clerk by the end of the month, at which point renovations can begin. There is a 20-day appeal process from the date of filing.
The Amherst Brewing Company, meanwhile, will be closing its North Pleasant Street restaurant and pub at the end of July and moving to its new 20,000 square-foot space on University Drive. The brewery will likely reopen in August.
Jason Dicaprio, owner of the Moan and Dove in South Amherst, is planning to open a new brewery there called the High Horse Brewery and Bistro. According to its management plan, it will serve gastropub fare as well as vegetarian and kid offerings.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing Thursday on that request. Bagg does not anticipate any issues as the business is essentially the same as what’s currently there.
Maroulis said he's hoping to lure more retail to town. “Destination dining is a great opportunity for us to capitalize (on that).”